When tough little boys grow up
by LittlePenguin93
Summary: A fluffy captain swan song fic full of feels written for my best friend. Play the song while you read it makes the feels that much more intense. Let me know what you think!


**Disclaimer I own nothing.**

 **AN: OK so I swore I'd never write Captain/Swan because im a Swan/Queen fan. BUT my best friend EJ loves captain swan and i've been missing her like crazy so I decided I would write something for her and when I was listening to this song I couldn't help but think of hook and Emma. For my swanqueen fans I've got one more songfic one shot for captain swan and then ill go back to swan queen. READ REVIEW AND ENJOY THE FLUFF**

 **WHEN TOUGH LITTLE BOYS GROW UP**

As he walked into the tent that would serve as his home for the next 5 months the first thing he did was reach for the picture tucked away in the pocket at his chest. Grabbing the tape from his bag he hangs it on the bottom of the bunk above him so he can lay there looking at their faces at night.

 **Well I never once**

 **Backed down from a punch**

 **Well I'd take it square on the chin**

 **Well I found out fast**

 **A bully's just that**

 **You've got to stand up to him**

 **So I didn't cry when I got a black eye**

 **As bad as it hurt, I just grinned**

 **But when tough little boys grow up to be dads**

 **They turn into big babies again.**

He'd always been tough. Growing up his brother he and Liam would raise so much hell for their mother with all the fights they'd get into. One in particular stood out to him, He was 7 years old and had gotten in a fight with one of the neighbor boys who were making fun of Emma for being wearing glasses. That day he not only broke his wrist but also got a black eye. He stood there with a big smile through the pain because Emma had kissed him on the cheek and told him she was gonna marry him one day because he saved her just like her daddy saved her mom in the story book her aunt Regina made for her. He looks to the picture of Emma holding the beautiful little girl Elizabeth Liam Joan's or EJ as they called her. And thinks back to how much he's changed since she was born.

 **scared me to death**

 **When you took your first steps**

 **And I'd fall every time you fell down**

 **Your first day of school, I cried like a fool**

 **And I followed your school bus to town**

 **Well I didn't cry, when Old Yeller died**

 **At least not in front of my friends**

 **But when tough little boys grow up to be dads**

 **they turn into big babies again**

He cried when they placed her in his arms. Emma laughed and teased him about how he claimed he wasnt really crying his eyeballs were just sweating but Emma knew the truth as he stood their with a stupidly happy grin on his face looking at them both. Hanging up his uniforms he remembers baby proofing the house while Emma was pregnant. At 6 months she just look at him over he large belly and shake her head as he installed every child lock and safety pad known to man in their home he'd get hell for her not being able to get into freezer to get the mint chip ice cream she loved but he felt it was worth it (even when he had to sleep on the couch that night because Emma was mad about the locks everywhere) when E.J took her first steps and banged her head on what would be the corner of the coffee table that night as he held Emma in his arms after she'd bathed and put their daughter to bed she turned to him and thanked him for being so protective. As he rolled out the sleeping bag on his bunk he thinks about how it wasn't long till Elizabeth went from walking to running to starting school. He took 3 months leave so he could stay home with E.J while Emma transitioned back into the Storybrooke police department. He loved being a stay at home dad (Emma always joked that he was the more maternal of the two) it meant he was there for EJ's first day of school. Call him overprotective but he may have followed the school bus all the way to the school and watched as she went into her classroom and played. Not his best decision because in doing so the school secretary thought he was a predator and called the cops. Emma walked into the precinct on after her lunch break to find her husband being force fed bologna while insisting he wasn't a criminal. She laughs every time she tells the story. But he just rolls his eyes smiles at the memory of his little girl laughing as she played.

 **Well I'm a grown man**

 **And as strong as I am**

 **Sometimes its hard to believe**

 **That one little girl, with little blonde curls**

 **Could totally terrify me**

 **If you were to ask**

 **My wife would just laugh**

 **She'd say "I know all about men**

 **How when tough little boys grow up to be dads**

 **They turn into big babies again"**

As he lays on his freashly made bunk looking at the picture of his wife and daughter he mentally counts the number of days till he's back home where he belongs this is his last tour with the army. He'll be retired by EJ's 13th birthday. Shes grown so much from the little baby he held in his arms. He'll deny it but Emma knows that he still goes and checks on her every night before they go to bed. Emma finds him whispering to her how much he loves her and how proud of her he is and how any if any boy (or girl he has no problem with that) hurts her that she has to promise that she and mommy will come visit him in jail because he'll probably kill them. Emma just laughs quietly at her lovable idiot and goes to wait for him in their room

 **Well I know one day, I'll give you away**

 **And I'm gonna stand there and smile**

 **And when I get home, and I'm all alone**

 **Well, I'll sit in your room for a while**

He wishes his baby would stop growing so fast he wishes she could just stay little forever but he knows that one day she'll be a wife, maybe even a mother. Right now she said that she wants to be a teacher, but before that she also wants to be in the army just like him. That thought scares the hell out of him. He's seen the horror of war and just wants his baby to be safe. With one last look he shuts off the light raises his finger to his eye and then his heart and pointing to the picture says I love you.

 **Well I didn't cry when Old Yeller died**

 **At least not in front of my friends**

 **But when tough little boys grow up to be dads**

 **They turn into big babies again**

 **When tough little boys grow up to be dads**

 **They turn into big babies again.**

Back in the sleepy town of Storybrooke EJ turns over in her mother's bed where she's sleeping for the night. Her mother is passed out the exhaustion of the pregnancy hitting her hard. Her dad doesn't know about this new baby yet her mom found out 4 days after he left for training and we planning on surprising him during their next Skype. It was late and she should be asleep she was wrapped up one of her father's old army PT shirts and looking to the nightstand next to her she sees the picture of him in his uniform, Raising her finger to her eye then to her and pointing at the picture says I love you daddy.


End file.
